Monterey Park Mayor Teresa Real Sebastian, left, and Mayor Pro Tem Anthony Wong discuss consolidating and sharing management and command staff for several San Gabriel Valley city fire departments, including Monterey Park, San Marino, San Gabriel and South Pasadena at Monterey Park’s city council meeting, in the administration building of East Los Angeles College, Wednesday, November 20, 2013.

MONTEREY PARK >> In a unanimous decision, the City Council voted to move forward possible increased fire services cooperation with Alhambra, San Gabriel, San Marino and South Pasadena.

Consideration of the proposal comes just four months after Monterey Park residents voted by a nearly 2-to-1 margin to keep the city Fire Department local in a highly contentious Measure FF vote.

“This is a lot better than the county (choice) because the county is too big,” said Councilman Peter Chan. “And the reason the city was against it was because we lose control of the whole Fire Department. With three to five cities, it’s easier to control and within the vicinity of the city.”

All five municipalities considering the union operate their own fire departments. Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, San Marino and South Pasadena have automatic and mutual aid agreements during emergency situations. They also already have regional training and grant opportunities.

The City Council discussed the matter Tuesday in session at East Los Angeles College, which brought in a younger audience that doesn’t usually attend council meetings. About 60 people were in attendance. The seats were filled to capacity and some stood in the back.

But by the time the fire issue came up, most of the audience had dissipated.

These cities cover nearly 27 square miles and serve about 221,800 people, a staff report said. There are 11 fire stations and 11 fire engines.

The potential change probably won’t affect response rate in any way because the engines, trucks and ambulances are all coming from the same stations, City Manager Paul Talbot said.

The only delay might come from the battalion chief who would have a larger coverage area, he added. The proposed plan has one fire chief and — if all five cities participate — about six battalion chiefs, Talbot said. The cities could collectively save about six salaries or up to $2 million, Talbot said.

“All cities at all departments are going to have to need to see how to deliver services smarter in the future,” City Manager Paul Talbot said. “Regionalization and cooperation in the cities will be the new norm in the future.”

Pasadena and Glendale operate under a similar system as the one the five cities are proposing, Talbot said. Additionally Brea and Fullerton began sharing shift battalion chief resources in 2010, a staff report said.

The five San Gabriel Valley municipalities began discussing regional cooperation in 2011, but Monterey Park pulled out of discussions when the city considered outsourcing fire protection to the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County.

San Gabriel, San Marino and South Pasadena continued talks about cooperation and are moving forward with their plan to consolidate command staff by having one fire chief and sharing battalion chiefs, a staff report said.

If the proposal passes, then the regionalization would be phased in over about four years, Talbot said. The reduction in staff will come from natural attrition. The cost savings would mean the group could hire division chiefs and specialized services, such as a full-time fire marshal and a full-time training officer, Talbot said. None of the cities have this right now, he added.

City Council directed staff to conduct a study about the pros and cons of combining forces and to work on the release of a Request for Qualifications. All participating cities will split the consultant fees.

Councilman Hans Liang said it’s too soon to say yea or nay on the issue. In fact, the participating cities aren’t certain yet. Montebello might also join discussions because of existing automatic and mutual aid agreements, a staff report said.

The regional solution is somewhere in the middle of local or county fire services, Liang said.

The fact is there are a lot of redundancies, Liang said. If Monterey Park decides to keep its fire department independent, it may eventually have to consider a parcel tax to pay for it, he added.

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